Treatment of spinning fibers in a textile mill

ABSTRACT

Fibers enter a textile mill at bale breaking equipment where fibers are distributed onto an open conveyor, and possibly blended, for transmittal to processing machinery such as opening and cleaning equipment, picker equipment for forming a lap, carding equipment, and drawing, roving and spinning equipment. The fibers are carried on the open conveyor past a spray station including at least one nozzle for spraying a finely diffused liquid onto the surface of the fiber material carried on the conveyor. The liquid is an aqueous solution which consists of about 75 percent water and about 12 1/2 percent of animal or vegetable fats as an active compound which is converted ionic salt by reaction of the organic acids contained in the animal and vegetable fats with an amine and subsequently with an alkyl sulfate. After passing the spray station, the fiber material may be transmitted through pneumatic conveyor systems to the additional processing equipment which ultimately converts the fibers into yarn or thread. An automatic control system for the spray station is energized by activation of either the bale breaking machinery or the open conveyor, and provides a delay control allowing the fibers on the open conveyor to move from the opening machinery station to the spray station.

United States Patent Nayfa TREATMENT OF SPINNING FIBERS IN A TEXTILEMILL [76] Inventor: James E. Nayfa, 5015 Sharp St.,

Dallas, Tex. 75247 Notice: The portion of the term of this patentsubsequent to Dec. 4, 1990, has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Jan. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 327,730

[52] U.S. Cl 19/66 R; 117/139.5 F [51] Int. Cl D0lb 3/04 [58] Field ofSearch l17/l39.5 F, 139.5 CQ; 252/875; 19/66 R [5 6] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,120,730 12/1914 Marx 19/66 R UX 2,440,399 4/1948Hill 19/66 R 2,676,924 4/1954 Fortess et a1. 117/1395 F 2.981985 5/1961Walsh et a1. 19/66 R 3,351,984 11/1967 Wheelock 19/66 R 3,717,904 2/1973Bonner et a1. 19/66 R 3.776,844 12/1973 Nayfa l9/l39.5 CQ X PrimaryExaminer-Dorsey Newton Atlorney, Agent, or Firm-Peter J. Murphy BALEBREAKER I /56 lfi h-y SPRAY er 5' STATION [57] ABSTRACT Fibers enter atextile mill at bale breaking equipment where fibers are distributedonto an open conveyor, and possibly blended, for transmittal toprocessing machinery suchas opening and cleaning equipment, pickerequipment for forming a lap, carding equipment, and drawing, roving andspinning equipment. The fibers are carried on the open conveyor past aspray station including at least one nozzle for spraying a finelydiffused liquid onto the surface of the fiber material carried on theconveyor. The liquid is an aqueous solution which consists of about 75percent water and about 12 /2 percent of animal or vegetable fats as anactive compound which is converted ionic salt by reaction of the organicacids contained in the animal and vegetable fats with an amine andsubsequently with an alkyl sulfate. After passing the spray station, thefiber material may be transmitted through pneumatic conveyor systems tothe additional processing equipment which ultimately converts the fibersinto yarn or thread. An automatic control system for the spray stationis energized by activation of either the bale breaking machinery or theopen conveyor, and provides a delay control allowing the fibers on theopen conveyor to move from the opening machinery station to the spraystation.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CARD DRAWING F/F' "20 PICKER ROVING OPENERSPINNING 1 F? ms BALE BREAKER STATION SPRAY 5 3 8 S4, 3 l 4 SHEET 1 CARDDRAWING /5 f 20 fix PICKER ROVING A I 41 A5 OPENER SPINNING Fig.l

TREATMENT OF SPINNING FIBERS IN A TEXTILE MILL BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OFTHE INVENTION This invention relates to a method for treating fibrousmaterial preparatory to converting such fibers to yarn or thread.

In the processing of fibrous material, such as cotton fibers, from thepoint of entry into a mill to the formation of a yarn or thread suitablefor weaving, the fibers pass through a sequence of equipment performingthe functions of opening up of the fibers from the compressed state inthe incoming bales, separating dirt and other foreign matter from thefibers, parallelizing and drawing out the fibers to convert theindividual fibers from a tangled mass into generally parallel alignmentsuitable for the formation of continuous slivers, and further drawingout of the slivers, and twisting and spinning the slivers, to ultimatelyproduce the yarn or thread suitable for the subsequent weavingprocesses. During these several processes, the fibers are subjected tomuch mechanical handling by the components of the equipment whichinherently produce much friction between the machine parts and the fibermaterial. Conditions of high friction and sticking of the fiber materialare aggravated where the material has a high sugar content and wherethere is a higher than normal dirt or contamination contained in thefiber.

Another undesirable condition, in this machinery is the inherent buildup of static electricity due to friction which causes further tendencyof the fibers to stick together to resist separation of foreign matter,to resist the desired actions of the processing equipment resulting inincreased fiber breakage which reduces the quality of the yarns. Becauseof these inherent conditions and problems with the fiber processingequipment, there is ultimately an end loss of spinnable fibers and areduction in yarn strength due to the higher percentage of short fibers.

An inherent result from excessive friction in equipment of this type isthat the wear of the equipment is increased resulting in the frequentnecessity for replacement of parts and also resulting in overall reducedlife.

A principal object of this invention therefore is to provide a methodfor treating of fibers in a textile mill which improves the processingof the fibers through the various equipment of the mill by improving theconditions which result in the above outlined disadvantages.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method for applying afine mist spray of a selected solution to the surface of the fibrousmaterial at an early stage in mill processing, so that the subsequentprocessing operations may be carried out in an improved and efficientmanner.

A method for treating fibrous material according to the inventionincludes the steps: distributing fibrous material substantiallyuniformly onto a conveyor; ap-

' plying to the fibrous material a finely diffused spray of of fibrousmaterial to practice the above method includes a powered conveyor;powered apparatus for distributing the fibrous material uniformly ontothe conveyor; spray apparatus including at least one nozzle for sprayinga finely diffused liquid on the fibrous material carried on suchconveyor, said spray apparatus being disposed adjacent to the conveyorat a point spaced from said powered distributing apparatus; and controlmeans responsive to the operation of the distributing or conveyingapparatus for effecting the operation of the spray apparatus.

A principal feature of the method of the invention is that the fibrousmaterial is treated with a treatment composition, at a stage in itsprocessing prior to handling by various stages of equipment, whichbetter conditions the fibers for the subsequent processing by theequipment and has the side effect of being deposited on the equipment tofurther reduce problems which inherently result from the processing. Thetreatment compound is added to the material in such quantities as toprovide a synthetic shield or coating on the fibers to preserve theinherent quality of the fibers which is often dissipated through thefriction generated as the fibers are carried through and acted on by theprocessing'equipment. The treatment composition provides lubricity ofthe fibers and functions to greatly minimize the build up of staticelectricity which is generated by the movement of the fibers through theprocessing equipment. The treatment composition is of a nature that aportion will be deposited from the fibrous materiajlfto the parts of theequipment which act on the fibe'r's, thereby coating such parts tofurther minimize the friction between the fibers and equipment parts andto inherently then reduce the wear of such equipment parts.

The novel features and the advantages of the invention, as well asadditional objects thereof, will be understood more fully from thefollowing description when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

DRAWINGS FIG. I is a diagrammatic illustration of apparatus used in atextile mill, with which the invention is practicedf FIG; 2 is adiagrammatic illustration of the spray station identified in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the control circuit embodied in theconsole control unit at the spray station.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 of the drawing is adiagrammatic illustration, somewhat in the form of a flow diagram,illustrating typical processing equipment in a textile mill concernedwith the spinning of cotton fibers for example.

The'four units 11 identified as bale breakers act on hard compressedslabs of fibers from the bale to reduce these fibers to a fairly fiuffystate, and then distribute the fibers at a controlled rate to a beltconveyor 12. During this process some of the dirt and trash contained inthe cotton lint or fibers may be removed. The individual bale breakersmay be used to process cotton or other materials of different quality sothat a desired blend is discharged to the conveyor belt 12. It is alsopossible at this point of entry to a textile mill, that other fibrousmaterial, such as synthetic fibers, may be blended with cotton at thisstage.

The fibers are deposited relatively uniformly onto the open conveyorbelt 12, and are conveyed through a spray station 13. A liquid solutionis depositedon the surfaces of the fibers by means of one or more spraynozzles, in the form of a finely diffused spray. The conveyor 12 may beof some length such as 20 or 30 feet for example in order to convey thematerial from the atmosphere of the bale breaking room to an atmospheremore suitable for the spraying operation. Following the spraying, thefiber material is discharged into the entry hopper of a pneumaticconveyor duct 15.

The equipment to which the fibers are conveyed will vary from plant toplant and, as indicated by the dotted lines 15a, 15b and 150 thematerial may alternatively be conveyed to opening equipment 16, pickerequipment 17 or carding equipment 18. If opening equipment is providedthe fibers will first be processed with this equipment which functionsto further open up the fluffed cotton and to permit additional cleaningof the cotton fibers. The fibers may then be processed by pickerequipment 17 which further cleans the cotton fibers and forms the cottoninto a substantially uniform and fairly dense batt or lap suitable forhandling by carding equipment 18. In some plants, the cotton fibers arefed directly from a pneumatic conveyor 15 to suitable chute feed devicesfor the carding equipment 18'.

The fibrous material which is received at the inlet of the cardingequipment in the form of a relatively thick batt or lap has a uniformdensity. The carding equipment receives these batts at a relatively slowrate and combs or aligns the individual fibers to form a fine delicateweb at the output end. This fine web is funneled into one or moreso-called trumpets which shape the web into a round sliver having adiameter of approximately /2 inchfor example. The slivers are coiledinto cans for transport to the next processing equipment.

The slivers may be processed through several stages of drawing equipment19 wherein the sliver is reduced in diameter and density and where thefibers are further parallelized and the regularity of the weight perunit length of the material is increased. Roving equipment 20 alsoreduces the sliver to smaller and smaller diameters and twists itslightly to maintain a continuous strand. The last indicated equipmentin the flow cycle is the spinning equipment 21 which further draws thefibers and twists the fibers to produce yarn or thread.

In all of the stages of processing of the fibers there is inherentfriction between the fibers and the elements of the equipment which acton the fibers. This friction inherently produces wear on the equipmentparts which come in contact with the fibers. This friction causes abuild up of static electricity which acts between the fibers beingprocessed to resist separation of the fibers and to resist removal ofseed fragments and other contamination during the cleaning processes,and which acts between the fibers and the machine parts to increase dragof the material or sticking'of the material to the several parts.Sticking is further caused by high sugar content and other contaminationwithin the fibrous material with this problem being aggravated by thestatic electricity which resists the removal of these contaminants.

According to applicants invention, a solution of a treatment compositionis introduced to the surface of the fibers at a point in the processingprior to the handling by much'of'the equipment. The treatmentcomposition serves to give the fibers a certain lubricity, and hasanti-static properties to reduce to a large extent the build up ofstatic electricity.

A preferred solution for this purpose is an aqueous solution'consistingof about percent Water for example and further consisting of animal orvegatable fats as an active compound which is converted to ionic salt byreaction of .the organic acids contained in the animal and vegetablefats with an amine and subsequently with an alkyl sulfate. 1 V

I A preferred formulation for the solution is as follows, with thepercentage ofingredients by weight being indicated:

Tallow imidazolinium methosulfate Ethyl sulfate C H SO 7 7c Dimethyldistearyl' ammonium chloride 5 92% l( a) 2 u H37): +l l- Water 75 7( Inthis formulation the basic formula for tallow imidazolinium methosulfateis as follows:

wherein R1 is an aliphatic-hydrocarbon radical (C 10-20), wherein R2 isa saturated aliphatic hydrocar- Ethoxylated coco amine C H OCH; (CH:C,NH i l l Ethyl sulfate C ruso. 8 /i% lsopropyl alcohol'C H Ol-l 5 V2%Water 75 -A third formulation for the solution is as follows, with thepercentages of ingredients by weight being indicated: v r r Tallowimidazalimium methosulfate v l2 Ethozylated coco amine C H OCH (CH CNH 7lsopropyl alcohol C H OH 5 95% Water r i v In this third formulatiomtheethoxylated coco-amine functions as a lubricating constituents i l Thespray station 13 is illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 2 wherein thereis shown a spray nozzle 25 positioned above the belt conveyor 12 tospray treating solution onto fibrous material'26. FIG. '2 is essentiallya schematic diagram of the'hydraulic circuit for supplying the treatingsolution and air to 'the nozzle 25 and indicates, i'n'broken lines,'aspray control unit 30 which controls the 'sprajy station andhousescertain components. 1

The treatment solution may be supplied to the mill in a 55 gallon drum31, for example. A conduit 32 associated with the control unit 30 is thesuction line to a pump 33, which may be an electrically powered positivedisplacement fluid pump. Pump outlet conduit 34 directs the solutionthrough solenoid controlled shut off valve 35 to the nozzle 25. Adjacentto the nozzle the fluid is directed through a pressure responsive cutoff valve 37 which functions to open in response to a supply pressure ofabout 9 psi for example and to close when the pressure drops below thatvalue. This valve maintains solution in the discharge conduit andprevents leakage of the liquid from the nozzle.

To effect the dispensing of the liquid from the nozzle in the desiredfine mist spray, pressurized air is supplied to the nozzle at a pressureof 16 to psi for example. This air is preferably supplied from plant airif available; or a supplementary air compressor may be associated withthe spray station. In the diagrammatic illustration of FIG. 2, air issupplied from either plant air or a compressor through inlet conduit 41,to solenoid actuated on-ofi" valve 42 within the control unit 30, thenthrough supply conduit 43 to the nozzle 25.

FIG. 3 of the drawing is a schematic diagram of the electric controlcircuit for the control unit 30, and associated circuitry. The spraycontrol unit 30 may be a housing containing the circuit components to bedescribed as well as other components such as the liquid pump 33 andsolenoid valves.

For internal wiring of the components within the control unit, aterminal panel includes four terminal blocks designated 1, 2, 3 and 4and each having a pair of interconnected terminal posts A and B. Powerfor the control unit is supplied through terminal blocks 1 and 4 bymeans of conductors 51a and 51b which are connected to a conventional110 volt AC power supply for exam-. ple.

The several components which are to be energized to dispense treatmentsolution are the pump 33, the solenoid controlled liquid valve 35,solenoid controlled air valve 42, and a pilot light 52. All of thesecomponents are connected across the terminal blocks 3 and 4, the pumpand the pilot light being connected by means of conductors 53a and 53b,and solenoid valves and 52 being connected by means of conductors 54aand 54b. The terminal block 4 and connected conductors 51b, 53b and 54bwill be referred to for convenience as the ground circuit; whileconductor 51a and terminal blocks 1, 2 and 3 are associated with thepower circult.

A selector control switich 55 has its common terminal C connected toblock 1 through conductor 56, has a terminal M connected to block 3through conductor 57, and has a terminal A connected to block 2 throughconductor 58. For manually operating the spray station, the selectorswitch connects its terminals C and M thereby connecting block 3 in thepower circuit to energize the spray station components. For automaticoperation, the selector switch 55 connects its terminals C and A therebyconnecting block 2 in the power circuit and disconnecting block 3.

Automatic operation is controlled through start con troller 60 havinginput terminals 6a and 6b and a stop controller 61 having inputterminals 7a and 7b. Start controller 60 includes a solenoid operatedswitch arm which is normally positioned to couple its common terminal Cand its contact- NC; and which, when the control is energized, couplesthe terminals C and contact NO. The controller includes an adjustabletimer to select a delay interval prior to movement of the switch armfrom the NC to the NO contact.

Similarly the stop controller 61 includes a switch arm normally couplingits common terminal C and its contact NC, and which shifts to make itscontact NO when the controller is energized and after a preselecteddelay interval.

These controllers are connected into the circuit in the followingmanner. The common terminal C of both the start controller and the stopcontroller are connected to the block 2 through conductors 62, 63 and64. The start controller NC contact is connected to the input terminal7a of the stop controller through conductor 65; and the other inputterminal 7b is connected into the ground circuit through conductor 66and terminal block 4. The start controller NO contact is connected toblock 3 through conductors 67 and 68; stop controller NC contact is alsoconnected to block 3 through conductors 67 and 69.

The input terminals 6a and 6b for the start controller are connected inthe power circuit for either the bale breakers 11 or the conveyor 12, sothat when power is supplied to this equipment power is simultaneouslysupplied to energize the start controller. By the same token when thepower to this equipment is shut off, the

start controller is deenergized.

OPERATION The start controller 60 and the stop controller 61 functiontogether to couple terminal blocks 2 and 3 at the desired time, toswitch terminal block 3 into and out of the power circuit for energizingthe operating components of the spray control unit. This portion of thecircuit operates in the following manner. When the selector switch 55 isplaced in the automatic position, the power circuit is extended throughterminal conductors 62 and 63, the start controller NC contact, andconductor 65 to energize the stop controller 61. After the preselecteddelay interval, the stop controller switch arm breaks from its NCcontact; and at this point block 3 is not connected in the powercircuit. This is the ready" condition of the control circuit.

Now when power is supplied to the bale breakers 11 or conveyor 12, poweris also supplied to terminals 6a and 6b to energize the startcontroller. After the preselected delay interval, allowing time forfibers to move along the conveyor from the bale breakers 11 to the spraystation 13, the switch arm swings over to make the NO contact. Thiscouples blocks 2 and 3 in the power circuit through conductors 62, 63,68 and 67; and the spray control unit components are energized todispense the treatment solution. With the breaking of the startcontroller NC contact, power to the stop controller 61 through the inputterminal 7a is removed,

and its switch arm immediately makes its NC contact.

This completes a parallel power circuit coupling blocks 2 and 3consisting of conductors 62, 64, 69, and 67. This condition of the spraycontrol circuit will be maintained until such time as the power supplyto the bale breakers l1 and conveyor 12 is removed.

When this occurs, the start controller is deenergized resulting to animmediate breaking of its NO contact and an immediate making of its NCcontact, the latter of which again completes the power circuit forenergizing the stop controller. With the breaking of the startcontroller NO contact; one of the parallel power circuits couplingterminal blocks 2 and 3 is broken; however the second power circuitthrough the stop controller is maintained for the preselected delayinterval following energization of the stop controller. This intervalallows time for the last fibers placed on the conveyor belt by the balebreakers to reach the spray station 13, at which time the stopcontroller NC contact breaks to open the power circuit to the terminalblock 3 thereby shutting down the spray unit. This operating cyclerepeats itself each time power is supplied to the bale breakers 11 orconveyor 12.

The use of the above described apparatus and method of the invention hasproduced a number of advantages as established by reliable mill andlaboratory tests. These include: (I the control of lint fly throughoutthe mill; (2) the elimination of sticking caused by high-sugar content,seed fragments and other contamination; (3) an increase in the removalof dirt and other foreign matter in the preparatory stages, withoutincreasing the loss of spinnable fibers; (4) the elimination of staticelectricity; (5) a reduction in fiber breakage; (6) the production of amore compact and smoother picker lap with no change in the logger-headpressure; and (7) the production of yarn having a significant increasein yarn strength, and a reduction in the yarn strength range. Otheradvantages realized from the use of the invention are: (8) a reductionof down-time caused by endsdown in processing; (9) an increase in theapparent fiber tenacity of the yarns produced; 10) extended life of millmachinery resulting from reducing the fiber-to-metal friction; (11)better preparation of laps and slivers; and 12) the reduction ofcomber-noil with no loss in yarn quality.

A particular feature of the above described apparatus is the positivecontrol of the spray station through the distributing equipment whicheliminates waste of the treatment composition and which assures positivecontrol of the spray of the treatment composition to the fibers when thefibers are passing the spray station. The

I spray station then operates in response to the presence of fibermaterial, but the control is a positive control acting directly inresponse to the feeding of material onto the conveyor at point spacedfrom the spray station.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustratedand described. it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatchanges and modifications may be resorted to without departing from thespirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of treating fibrous material preparatory to spinning in atextile mill comprising the steps:

opening the fibrous material;

distributing the fibrous material onto a movable surface area to form agenerally uniform layer of material in an open and exposed condition;

applying uniformly to said open and exposed fibrous material, in theform of a finely diffused spray, an aqueous solution consistingessentially of a percent water base, 12 /2 percent tallow imidazoliniumalkyl (C sulfate, 7 percent alkyl (C sulfate and 5 /2 percent dimethyldistearyl ammonium chloride;

and subsequently processing said fibrous material to form lapspreparatory to spinning.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1 providing, by means of said spray, asynthetic shield or coating which provides lubricity of the fibers andwhich is capable of being transferred from the fibrous material tophysical elements contacted by said fibrous material.

1. A METHOD OF TREATING FIBROUS MATERIAL PREPARATORY TO SPINNING IN ATEXTILE MILL COMPRISING THE STEPS: OPENING THE FIBROUS MATERIAL,DISTRIBUTING THE FIBROUS MATERIAL ONTO A MOVABLE SURFACE AREA TO FORM AGENERALLY UNIFORM LAYER OF MATERIAL IN AN OPEN AND EXPOSED CONDITION,APPLYING UNIFORMLY TO SAID OPEN AND EXPOSED FIBROUS MATERIAL, IN THEFORM OF A FINELY DIFFUSED SPRAY, AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION CONSISTINGESSENTIALLY OF A 75 PERCENT WATER BASE, 12 1/2 PERCENT TALLOWIMIDAZOLINIUM ALKYL (C1-5) SULFATE, 7 PERCENT ALKYL (C2-5) SULFATE AND 51/2 PERCENT DIMETHYL DISTEARYL AMMONIUM CHLORIDE, AND SUBSEQUENTLYPROCESSING SAID FIBROUS MATERIAL TO FORM LAPS PREPARATORY TO SPINNING.2. A method as set forth in claim 1 providing, by means of said spray, asynthetic shield or coating which provides lubricity of the fibers andwhich is capable of being transferred from the fibrous material tophysical elements contacted by said fibrous material.